A Brief History On March 12, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was devastated by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, causing a reactor to explode and release radiation into the environment. Digging Deeper To this day a 12 mile radius “no-go” zone is imposed around the disaster site, with only scientists and technicians with appropriate protection allowed to visit. Radioactive water will continue to be released into the Pacific Ocean for a period of 3 decades. Far from the only nuclear plant disaster, other disasters have cast a pall on what has been touted as “clean”…
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A Brief History On March 11, 2023, Americans celebrate another National Worship of Tools Day, a day in which professional craftsmen and do it yourselfers alike can glory in the inventions of their favorite tools. Digging Deeper So, what tool do you think is the greatest? The mighty hammer, that makes all things fit if you hit them hard enough? The saw, which can be designed to cut through virtually anything? The incredibly versatile pliers? The also incredibly versatile screwdriver? Or would you nominate a more complex tool, such as the Swiss Army Knife, or the Leatherman multi-tool? Or would…
A Brief History On March 9, 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte, said to have more books written about him than any mortal man, married the love of his life, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Later, after Napoleon became Emperor of the French and Josephine was crowned Empress, her failure to bear Napoleon a male heir caused the great man to ditch her in favor of Marie-Louise, whom he did not love, but bore him the son he so craved. Digging Deeper Other marriages of major celebrities that did not last include that of Prince Charles, now King Charles III of the UK, and Lady…
A Brief History On February 26, 1903, Michael Joseph Owens was granted a patent for a glass blowing machine, one of five inventions he patented for the mass production of glass objects such as light bulbs and bottles. Digging Deeper Owens made the production of glass bottles 80% cheaper and glass bulbs 90% cheaper than hand made objects. His inventions revolutionized the glass industry and helped spur the rapid development of the 20th Century industrial modernization. Owens worked for glass pioneer, Edward Libbey, in Ohio, making light bulbs for Edison General Electric. In 1919, Owens joined Libbey in creating the Owens…
A Brief History On February 6, 1959, an engineer at Texas Instruments, Jack Kilby, filed for the first patent for the “integrated circuit,” a small piece of silicon with many circuits called MOSFETs integrated on it, a device we know as the “microchip.” Digging Deeper Incredibly smaller, faster, and cheaper than the circuits that came before the microchip, these little devices have become the backbone of the electronics industry and are found in all sorts of computers, mobile phones, automobiles, industrial machines, and home appliances. The Metal-Oxide-Silicon that makes up the base material for the microchip is a semi-conductor and…
